bergen belsen accused mug shots

[corporalSteiner]

another interesting assembly, here of kz-related individuals, from bergen-belsen. a KZ just a few kms from allied POW camps, but worlds apart.(courtesy of epoche magazine, for research purposes).

[Dmv]

The Evil became reality in these faces

[corporalSteiner]

info (courtesy of capitalpunishment.uk.org) behind those pictured-The Belsen Trial as it was known was conducted by the British Military Tribunal at No. 30 Lindentrasse, Lüneburg, in Germany from September 17th to November 17th, 1945 under court President Major-General H.M.P. Berney-Ficklin, sitting with 5 other officers. The prosecution was in the hands of a team of 4 military lawyers and each prisoner was represented by counsel. All the prisoners were tried together and sat in the large dock, each wearing a number on their chest.
On the afternoon of November 16th the verdicts were delivered. Thirty one prisoners were convicted on one or both counts and 14 acquitted of all charges. Irma Grese and Elisabeth Volkenrath were found guilty on both counts, Juana Bormann guilty only on the second charge. The following day the sentences were read out to the prisoners. Eleven of them were sentenced to death and 19 others to various terms of imprisonment.
The death sentences were pronounced as follows by Major-General Berney-Ficklin:
"No. 1) Kramer, 2) Klein, 3) Weingartner, 5) Hoessler, 16) Francioh, 22) Pichen, 25) Stofel, 27) Dorr. The sentence of this Court on each one of you whom I have just named is that you suffer death by being hanged".
He then passed sentence on the women as follows "No. 6) Borman, 7) Volkenrath, 9) Grese. The sentence of this court is that you suffer death by being hanged."
The sentence was translated for them into German as "Tode durch den strang," literally death by the rope. All the prisoners were returned to Lüneburg prison. Nine of the eleven condemned appealed to the convening officer, Field-Marshal Montgomery, who rejected their appeals for clemency. Elizabeth Volkenrath and Juanna Borman decided not to appeal. On Saturday the 8th of December the appeals of the others were rejected and the condemned were transferred to Hameln jail the following day to await execution, being housed in a row of tiny cells along a corridor with the execution chamber at its end. The 11 from Belsen had been joined by two other men, Georg Otto Sandrock and Ludwig Schweinberger, sentenced for the murder of Pilot Officer Gerald Hood, a British prisoner of war at Almelo, Holland, on the 21st of March 1945.
The executions were set for Friday, December the 13th, 1945 and were to be carried out at half hour intervals starting at 9.34 a.m. with Irma Grese, who at 21, was the youngest of the condemned prisoners, followed by Elisabeth Volkenrath at 10.03 a.m. and Juana Bormann at 10.38 a.m. The men, including Joseph Kramer, were hanged in pairs afterwards, all 13 executions being completed by 1.00 p.m. In view of the proximity of the condemned cells to the gallows, each one of them must have heard the preceding hangings.
Elisabeth Volkenrath was 26 years old. She was convicted of numerous murders and made selections for the gas chamber. She was described as the most hated woman in the camp. Juana Borman was known as “the woman with the dogs” and took sadistic pleasure in setting her wolfhounds on prisoners to tear them to pieces.
The afternoon before execution each prisoner was weighed so the correct drop could be calculated for them. Irma Grese smiled at Pierrepoint when he asked her age. Elisabeth Volkenrath was steady but looked nervous and Juana Borman limped down the corridor looking old and haggard.
judging from the despatch date of those condemned, the British didnt hang around-unlike those condemned to swing. are there any examples of Monty showing any mercy against the axis?

[feldpost 58]

Hi,

For a film version of these events, one should watch the movie "Pierrepoint" starring Timothy Spall and and Juliet Stevenson.
This is a very moving account (based on the book by Albert Pierrepoint who was the official British executioner) of the execution of the Bergen-Belsen guards who perpetrated these atrocious crimes against humanity.
The movie is well researched and factual. the executioner himself suffering mental trauma after the event.
Also. a good film to watch is "The Relief Of Belsen", which was originally shown on British TV and then released on DVD.
I have personally been to Bergen-Belsen, which now has a very good research centre and museum which was in the process of being built on my visit a few years ago.
By the way. there were no "gas chamber" facilities at Belsen (the only funcioning KZ camp liberated )by Allied (British) forces - you just had to be there to suffer a dramatic loss in your life expectancy.
I was a friend of one of the medical team which liberated the camp on the request of the Wehrmacht, due to typhus and other contagious diseases.
A disgrace to humanity!

Best regards,

John

.

[crfraser]

The Evil became reality in these faces

Doesn't immediately conjure up the master race.

Colin

[Martin W]

My uncle was in the British Paratroop Regt during the war and according to my father he was one of the first allied troops to enter Belsen.

I hope to see him this Christmas when i visit England,and if he is willing i would like to talk to him about his experiences during the war.He is in his late 80's now.

I know he was in N.Africa,then D-Day,the Ardennes and finally Germany.

Regards,Martin.

[Dan M]

Kramer

Photo of Kramer from 1946 book, "Soldiers Album."

[robs]

Heres a couple of mine I have from an album of an REME officer who was at the liberation..been posted before but they are also decent photos, for comparison to the one at the start of the thread.!

[robs]

and..

[J. Wraith]

God those women are ugly, got to be guilty of that at least. Pass the rope.

[chrischa]

God those women are ugly, got to be guilty of that at least. Pass the rope.

I'm sure your humour isn't lost on some, but I don't think that's appropriate. No hard feelings BTW

When you read of a 21 year old Irma Grese hanging in 1945, how much was she programmed into her beaviour from when the NSDAP took power when she was 9? Was she a criminal or a most loyal nationalist?

Chris.

[SteelhelmJim]

All of this reminds me of the book and the movie 'The Reader.'

[J. Wraith]

I'm sure your humour isn't lost on some, but I don't think that's appropriate. No hard feelings BTW

When you read of a 21 year old Irma Grese hanging in 1945, how much was she programmed into her beaviour from when the NSDAP took power when she was 9? Was she a criminal or a most loyal nationalist?

Chris.

I am not buying this programmed behavior and camp guards as victims, I see the argument that can be made but its just not for me really. I think their criminals and when they are standing there on a pile of bodies when you show up I do not think compassion or traffic tickets would be appropriate. So yes my humor may not be the best here but I was not really kidding. No offense taken. ;o)

[Woolgar]

They are ugly and brutish looking, no question

Nick

[johnny_ola2000]

Choices?..

Guilty of crimes for sure, but these people don't look like monsters, just "1940's German" to me. Anyone know how much of a choice you had back then about working at a KZ?..Were they all volunteers? It seems like the SS had a rotation system where some soldiers served at KZ's if they were no longer fit for frontline duty (age, severe wounds etc, etc)
Were KZ personnel viewed as the dregs of society? or the opposite: Good citizens doing an unpleasant but nescessary job?..